THE CIVIC

Southland Times, Issue 25361, 13 August 1935, Page 5

THE CIVIC

Commencing To-morrow: Double Feature Bill, "Evensong” (Evelyn Laye. Fritz Kortner, Emlyn Williams. Conchita Supervla, Browning Mummery), and “Mystery Woman" (Mona Barrie, Gilbert Roland, John Halliday, Rod La Rocque). Commencing Saturday: “Lady in Danger" (Tom Walls, Yvonne Arnaud. Anne Grey, Hugh Wakefield, Marie Lohr). Coming Attractions: Double Feature Bill, "Roadhouse” (Gordon Harker, Anne Grey. Hartley Power); "Enchanted April" (Ann Harding, Frank Morgan. Reginald Owen); "Tnings are Looking Up” (Cicely Courtneidge, Max Miller, Judy Kelly, Mary Lawson); “The Iron Duke" (George Arliss, Gladys Cooper, Elaine Terriss). * * « *

Adapted from Beverley Nichol’s wellknown novel concerning a faded opera star, “Evensong” comes to the Civic to-morrow. The rise of the young Irish singer to international fame forms the larger portion of the film. From the simplicity of her singing of the old Irish airs in her late Victorian home, her career is traced through a rigorous period of training in Paris, until she makes her debut at the opera. Evelyn Laye’s portrayal of Irela, the opera star, is said to be convincing throughout, and her singing has a sweetness and charm of its own. There is a pause at Monte Carlo for a delightful romantic interlude, and here occurs one of the best scenes of the film. The second portion of the film is touched with the sadness of the decline of the star as youth and voice fade. Conchita Supervia, as Baba, makes some notable contributions to the singing.

One of the most thrilling and colourful screen dramas of the year, according to all preview accounts, will arrive to-morrow at the Civic Theatre when Fox Film’s “Mystery Woman” begins. “Mystery Woman” offers an initial starring role to Mona Barrie, the glamorous and arresting young actress from Australia, who one year ago was brought to Hollywood by Fox. In the single year she has had important roles in seven films, including such successes as “Carolina,” “One Night of Love,” and “Such Women Are Dangerous,” but “Mystery Woman” brings her her first opportunity to head a cast. Advance accounts state that she fulfills this opportunity in notable fashion, and Fox Film executives are said to be confident that shortly she will take her place among the foremost stars of the screen.

In “Lady in Danger” the GaumontBritish film coming to the Civic Theatre on Saturday, the star (and incidentally he is also the director) Tom Walls has surrounded himself with examples of great feminine charm and talent. They are Yvonne Arnaud, dainty little French comedienne, the stately Anne Grey and young and beautiful Leonora Corbett. Yvonne Arnaud might to-day be a famous pianiste if the stage had not lured her away from her musical studies. She began her musical career at the age of eleven when she gained first prize at the Paris Conservatoire for piano playing, subsequently touring in Europe and the United States as a musical prodigy. One of the few actresses who were as popular in silent films as they are in talking pictures is Anne Grey, dark, statuesque, English beauty who appears in so many Gaumont-British productions. Miss Corbett made her screen debut in “Love on Wheels,” a Gainsborough picture, starring Jack Hulbert. Since then she has appeared exclusively in Gaumont-British productions, in “Friday the Thirteenth,” “Wild Boy” and “The Constant Nymph.”